A Deviance
by Djsoresupon3
Summary: This is really just an Umbreon and Espeon story... though it's written by me so everything's probably not going to go according to plan. You might even say it'll... deviate from the norm. Yeah, I just... I just did that. I'm sorry, please read?
1. UNTIL IT BREAKS

Chapter 1: UNTIL IT BREAKS (Datsik Remix) by Linkin Park

 **Fuckin' shit, another new story. I just can't stop. Well, this is going to be an interesting story. Kind of a parody of UmbreonxEspeon stories. No, not really a parody… more like just putting my own personal twist on the concept I guess. It'll be fun for me and hopefully for the readers as well.**

An Umbreon sat towards the edge of the nightclub, bobbing his head to the beat that was felt like it was vibrating in his body. He was in the all-pokemon section where trainers let their pokemon enjoy in the fun as well. However, he was not here with a trainer. He was 'wild' so to speak. He was unnoticed by many though as he sat at the edge. His black fur seemed to blend into the space where the club's lights didn't reach and if not for his species' trademark glowing, yellow rings, he'd practically be invisible.

While it looked like he was looking over the dancefloor where so many pokemon were, his gaze was focused on one spot. One spot at the pokebar that was really more for show than anything else, as not many pokemon could stomach alcohol. The seat that he was staring at was being occupied by an Espeon. An absolutely _stunning_ Espeon. She had a sleek body, well-toned legs that he could even see from where he was and her fur was so well maintained that she was practically glowing… or that was the club lights.

She had been sitting at the bar, still on her first drink, for about 20 minutes now. She kept the seat next to her open, obviously waiting for someone. But that didn't stop others from approaching her. In fact, the vacant seat probably encouraged them. But she had already rejected 13 advances so far tonight. The Umbreon adjust the fanny pack that hung from his neck. Say what you want about fanny packs, but Arceus, did they come in handy when you didn't have pockets.

"Well you know what they say, fourteenth try's the charm," he said as a grin spread on his face that was borderline lecherous. He wasn't afraid to let others know his intentions. Of course, being the glutton that he was, while the Espeon was looking to be the main course, how could he say no to a potential appetizer? He literally danced, not that there was much variety for quadrupeds, his way through the crowd the Espeon and him. Along the way, he threw some suggestive winks at some of the females he passed by, often getting a wink or a giggle in reply.

He was about halfway there, when something caught his eye. He spotted a Meowstic that was stumbling around, trying to dance while very drunk. His grin took on a look of mischief, she was almost too easy of a target. He was about to go over, when his keen peripherals picked up something. Readjusting his focus, he noticed a Linoone that was making his way around the dance floor. He narrowed his eyes as he studied the Linoone. He was definitely on his way to talk to the Espeon. Deciding to ditch the Meowstic, the Umbreon began navigating through the crowd again, this time with much more urgency. He quickly found himself in the seat next to the Espeon. He looked over his shoulder at the Linoone who met his gaze. The Umbreon grinned and got a scowl in return as the Linoone headed back to wherever he had been before.

The Umbreon turned back to the bar and waited for the bartender to notice him. Using his peripherals, he tried to pick up some more information about the Espeon sitting beside him. Like, how her glass was covered in condensation and lacked any ice. She was definitely waiting for someone. Oh! What if it was another cute girl who- no, he knew that wasn't it and he was just getting his hopes up.

"What can I get you?" A voice croaked. He turned to see the bartender, a Politoed, and smiled brightly.

"Do you have anything with a Tamato base?" He asked. He caught a slight shift in movement from the Espeon. He had gained a bit of her attention.

The bartender looked surprised at such a question, but the Umbreon was used to it. Tamato-based anything was pretty rare as not many people or pokemon could appreciate the burning sensation that came with them. The bartender began searching through his shelves and cabinets and pulled a bottle down before shaking his head. He walked back to the Umbreon with the bottle in hand.

"All I could find was this 165-proof Tamato vodka," the bartender said, showing him the bottle.

"Mkay, I'll take a glass of that on the rocks," the Umbreon requested. The bartender seemed hesitant but grabbed a glass, stacked two ice cubes in it and then poured the drink and served it to the Umbreon, who thanked him and turned to the Espeon without touching his drink.

"So…" He began, noticing her sigh, "You come here often?"

"Look, I'm waiting for someone. So if you could please leave as soon as possible, I'd appreciate it," she said, not even turning to look at him.

"Oh I know, I've been watching for about the past 20 minutes," he replied, noticing her ear flicker. "So… who are you waiting for? Another cute girl such as yourself?"

"I don't know," the Espeon said, sighing in frustration. The Umbreon's grin grew, he was whittling her guard a bit by bit.

"Oh, so you claim to be waiting for someone but you don't even know who you're looking for?" He asked. Her silence was an answer itself. "Well… how do you know that I'm not who you've been waiting for?"

That got her to look at him. She looked him up and down before turning back away from him.

"Yeah, no," she said.

"Wha?" He asked, taking on a tone of offense. "How can you tell just by looking?"

"Because I know what kind of pokemon I'm looking for and you're about the furthest thing from it," she answered. The Umbreon looked down at himself.

"You're waiting for a fairy type?" He asked. The Espeon turned to him in confusion.

"What? No, I meant, like… the way a pokemon carries themselves," she explained. He nodded and looked down at himself again.

"What's wrong with the way I carry myself?" He asked. She sighed in frustration again. "Hey, look here princess-"

"Don't call me princess!" she suddenly snapped, making the Umbreon close his mouth. They sat in tense silence before the Espeon randomly grabbed her drink with her telekinesis and downed it before leaving from her seat. The Umbreon sighed as he watched her go towards the exit, definitely not paying attention to the way her hips swayed like grass dancing in the wind. He shook his head and turned back towards his drink. As he reached down to grab it with his mouth, he picked up something in his peripherals. He turned to see the Linoone walk behind him and in the direction the Espeon had went. He was obviously stalking her. The Umbreon grinned mischievously.

"Oh this is going to be interes-"

"Where'd the girl go?" A croaking voice interrupted him. He turned towards the bartender, looked at the now vacant seat by him and then back to the bartender.

"Oh, I think I scared her off," the Umbreon said while laughing. When he noticed that the Politoed wasn't laughing with him, he decided it was probably best to stop.

"Well, that makes you responsible for her drink as she didn't pay for it," the bartender said once the Umbreon had stopped. The Umbreon glanced towards the Epson's empty glass. He then glanced towards the exit.

"Guess I need to get going anyways," he sighed. He opened his fanny pack and fished out a bill with his paw. With his mouth, he picked up his glass and downed it, surprising the bartender. He slapped the bill down and placed the glass on it. He jumped off the stool and closed his fanny pack before leaving.

"Oh, and consider the change a tip," he called over his shoulder as he left.

The Politoed watched the Umbreon disappear into the crowd and shook his head as he collected the two glasses and set them to the side to clean later. He then picked up the bill the Umbreon had left and looked at it. He stared at it for several moments as his brain tried to process what he was looking at. When he did, he quickly reached for the UV flashlight and shined it on the bill. His breath hitched as the official seal of the Pokemon League glowed on the bill. He put the flashlight back before looking around at all the security guards. After making sure none were looking he tried to casually slide it under his apron. He looked out into the crowd, but so no sign of the Umbreon. He shook his head as he started cleaning glasses.

(Meanwhile)

"Look, no means no, so if you could just-" The Espeon tried to say but the Linoone that stood in her way interrupted her.

"I don't think you understand the situation sweetie. You're in an alleyway, in this city, at this time of night," the Linoone growled. "Even if you scream, there ain't gonna be anyone who's going to help ya."

"I'm not in the mood for any trouble-" She began, but soon found herself thrown against the alley wall.

"Well I know what I'm in the mood for," the Linoone huskily growled at her.

"Well… well… well," a panting voice interrupted them. They both turned to see a panting Umbreon who was leaning against the wall almost ten feet away. "What… do we… have… here?"

The Espeon and Linoone glanced at each other before the Linoone spoke up.

"Are… are you doing okay?" He asked the Umbreon. The Umbreon nodded but was still heavily panting.

"Yeah… Tamato… vodka's… kicking in," the Umbreon panted, causing the Espeon to facepaw.

"Oh Arceus, you are that Umbreon from the bar," she muttered out loud.

"Glad you… remember… me," the Umbreon got out.

"I can't believe of all the pokemon in the city that could've saved me, it's you," she said.

"Hey look buddy, you need to go mind your own business and no one needs to get hurt," the Linoone said, bristling his fur.

"I believe… both of… you… ohArceusitfeelslikemybody'sanoven… are mistaken… about my… intentions," The Umbreon said, walking along the wall until he was right next to the Espeon. "I'm not here… to help you… I'm here… to help… him."

"Wait what?!" The Espeon exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I'm just as confused as her," the Linoone added.

"Do you… really think… that after… blowing me…"

"Wait what?" The Linoone interjected.

"I never did that!" The Espeon defended.

"... off…" The Umbreon continued with a roll of his eyes. "That I'd… help you?"

"Well what makes you think I want your help?" The Linoone asked. The Umbreon grinned reflected the deviance in his eyes.

"Do you… resist attacks… on the mind?" The Umbreon asked. The Linoone hesitated in answering, which the Umbreon used to continue. "Because I'm… pretty sure that… if she wanted to… she could get you… a one-way ticket… to a mental hospital."

The Linoone looked towards the Espeon, whose eyes were wide as she seemed to realize what was happening. Her eyes lit up as she tried to use Psychic to throw the Linoone away so that she'd have a way to run… but nothing happened. Her eyes stopped glowing as she frantically looked at the Umbreon, who was grinning broadly.

"The interesting… thing about… Dark Pulse is… that with enough… control. You can… use it to… negate psychic moves… within a limited radius," he explained, still grinning. The Espeon then desperately tried to run away from the Umbreon, but found her path cut off by the Linoone.

"I'm still not quite sure about this… but as long as it's happening then I'm alright with it," the Linoone said, forcing the Espeon back against the wall.

"Don't worry, the first threesome is always the most awkward," the Umbreon quipped, now able to talk without pauses. The Espeon and Linoone stared at him. "... What?"

"I thought we were going to take turns," the Linoone said, the Espeon looking at him now.

"Hm…" The Umbreon mulled in thought. He looked at the Espeon, who had turned back to looking at him. "What's your opinion?"

"... Are you seriously asking me that?" She asked, her voice wavering.

"Good point," the Umbreon said, nodding his head. "Forgot that you were a virgin."

The Espeon's and Linoone's eyes widened to dinner plates. It was the Linoone that spoke first from the initial shock.

"She's a virgin?" He asked in disbelief. The Espeon opened her mouth to say something, but the Umbreon silenced her with his paw.

"Don't even try to deny it," he said, then he leaned in until his mouth was next to her ear as he whispered. "Besides… we'll know the truth pretty soon."

He quickly pulled back as she tried to bite his paw. He grinned at her as he studied her face. He noticed that her eyes were beginning to tear up.

"Awh… are you going to cry?" He asked the Espeon. The Espeon closed her eyes for a bit as she took a deep breath before opening them. The Umbreon was surprised as they were burning with defiance.

"I'd rather die than give you sick freaks the pleasure," She said before spitting at his paws. The grin on the Umbreon's face disappeared as he stared down at the ground where she had spit. While she didn't break down, she was starting to get unnerved by his sudden shift in demeanor. He suddenly looked back up at her and stared at her. They held the gaze for several moments before the Umbreon closed his eyes. He smiled and re-opened them and she was caught off-guard by the look in his eyes. He suddenly clutched his head like he was in pain and began stumbling.

"Impossible!" He shouted, startling both the Espeon and the Linoone, who had been silent.

"Wh-What's wrong?" The Linoone asked.

"She broke through my Dark Pulse somehow! Quick! Attack her while she's focused on me!" The Umbreon shouted, still stumbling, confusing the Espeon. The Linoone seemed hesitant at first but his claw glowed as he prepared a Slash attack. He was suddenly blindsided though and had his head slammed into the alley wall with a noisy crack. He slumped to the ground as the Umbreon stood over him, smiling.

"Bet'cha didn't see that Sucker Punch coming!" He said triumphantly as he turned towards the Espeon, who just looked confused. "You'll have to excuse me for that, princess. I was having a bit too much fun. "

"... Wha?" Was all she said.

"The name's Shade by the way. I was hired by your father to ensure your safety during your travels," Shade said quickly. "We should probably get going before this guy wakes up. I've abused him enough for one night. Back to my place!"

Shade left the confused Espeon as he exited the alleyway, humming a random tune. She sat there, unsure of what to do, until a groan from the Linoone startled her. She quickly ran out of the alleyway and looked towards the direction the Umbreon, Shade, had gone. He was at the end of the street, waving a paw energetically.

"Come on, princess! While Santalune's nice during the day, it can turn quite easily at night!" He yelled. The Espeon looked back down the alley and then all around her, considering her options. She groaned inwardly.

"This is definitely a bad idea," she muttered as she ran to catch up to Shade.

 **Well there's basically the first chapter! I'll apologize now if the fake rape scene offended anyone. I'm just trying to ensure that everyone knows that Shade's a HUGE asshole. Like, it won't even be up for discussion. He's an ass and karma's going to eventually make him its bitch. I guarantee it. So, unfortunately, I'm not the most consistent of uploaders. My updates have ranged from literally the day after to almost three years (I'm pretty sure on the same story too). So… sorry. I'd say that I have good reasons like school or work, which I do have, but in all honesty I'm just lazy. But leave a review on what you like, didn't like or whatever. Compliment me, critique me. Just give me feedback I can use, please. I know I can't write a New York Time's Best Seller, but I can at least improve my writing from now. Oh, yeah, I also usually have long author's notes. Have fun with that.**

 **~Djsoresupon3 signing out!**


	2. A Little Too Much

Chapter 2: A Little Too Much by Shawn Mendes

 **Hey guys! I think it's been a pretty decent amount of time since I've updated. I mean, it hasn't been a year yet, so that's good! But when I can get into a whole new genre of music and out of it between updates, I think that says a bit. Anyway, I just want to thank y'all for the support I've gotten off the first chapter. Special thanks to SoloAcrobat6, VicDark and silva fox14 for the favorite/follow. I know I thanked you all already (at least I hope I did) but I just wanna do it again. Though, I'd love it if you reviewed… please?**

Morgan didn't quite know what to think of her current situation. She had gone out on her father orders to meet an escort to help her along her journey. That had been simple, though the location was rather confusing. While she had visited Santalune City several times, she didn't know it had a poke-friendly night club. Or a night club at all for that matter. She then had been hit on _insistently_ by almost a dozen males or something. So she left. Then almost got raped. Then saved by one of the pokemon who had threatened to rape her. An Umbreon named Shadow or something uncreative which he probably thought sounded cool. Then followed said pokemon back to his shady motel room. And now sat outside of it after he went inside. Though, it was rather amusing to see the Umbreon try to open the human door.

"You can come inside you know," a voice said, distracting her thought process. She turned to see the Umbreon mutter something under his breath before grinning at her. "I promise I don't bite… unless you're into that kind of thing."

Morgan just scowled before pushing her way inside. The motel room was… surprisingly clean. She'd imagined that there'd be garbage everywhere and a foul odor that she'd be able to taste in the air.

"Can you not stare at my living space with such a judging look? You're making me feel uncomfortable," the Umbreon said, walking by her. He went about the small living room like he was looking for something.

"I'm surprised a 'mon like you can even feel uncomfortable," Morgan said, sitting down where she was.

"Good point, I can't," he said while grinning, but not stopping his search. Morgan watched him for a full minute as he seemed to search the living room, despite not moving a single object. She got impatient.

"What are you looking for?" She asked in irritation.

"I'm looking for the note from your father. Because I'm assuming you're not going to take my word for much. Though… you did follow some guy back to his place after he literally threatened to rape you. But better to be safe than sorry," he answered, causing Morgan to scowl again. "I just don't remember where I put it."

"So you lose things easily?" She asked.

"Yes I do. Sorry that I'm not perfect. It's one of the few reasons that I have a fanny pack," he replied.

"Which looks ridiculous," Morgan muttered, but the Umbreon's ear twitched, showing that he heard her. He glared at her, his smile gone and his eyes icy.

"Okay, Ground Rule #1: You do not mock the fanny pack," he said, his tone matching his eyes. The sudden shift unnerved Morgan. "I'm fine with insults being thrown at me personally but I will not overlook transgressions against the fanny pack. Understood?"

Morgan was too stunned by his sudden mood shift over a fanny pack to properly form a reply so she opted to nod instead. He went back to wearing a grin.

"Good. This fanny pack is very important to me. It's where I put everything important," he said.

"So wouldn't you put a letter from my father in there?" Morgan asked, almost regretting that she felt more comfortable with his perverted side. He scoffed before replying.

"I would, but I would have remembered doing so," he said. He suddenly turned and laid down so his back was to her. He glanced back at her, causing her to raise an eyebrow. She was about to ask what he was doing before the faint sound of something unzipping reached her ears. She sighed and rolled her eyes as she knew that he was trying to quietly look through his fanny pack. He froze before glancing back at her. He then scanned the room before his eyes stopped on the couch.

"Oh, what's this?" He spoke in the over-dramatic tone he had used in the alley way. "I think I see something under the couch."

He then scooted over to the couch, keeping his back to her before he disappeared in front of it. He reappeared shortly afterwards with a piece of paper in his mouth. He brought it over to her, where she grabbed it with her telekinesis.

"I found it. Under the couch. Under the couch is where I found it," he stated. Morgan stared at him with deadpan eyes before they shifted down.

"You left your fanny pack open," she replied before bringing up the paper for her to read.

"Oh, uh, it must have gotten… caught… on something. Under the couch. Because that's where I found your dad's letter," he said, but Morgan tuned him out as she read the letter. It… was actually a letter from her father. She recognized the writing and the pawprint at the bottom. She had honestly assumed it was going to be a ploy and that… something would have happened after that. Wow, had she really planned things out this badly? She turned her attention back to the actual writing.

 _Dear Morgan,_

 _If you're reading this then that means you've probably met Shade. Hopefully. If you have, then I'm sure you're probably wondering why I hired someone like him to escort you to the Lumiose Wastelands. I know that he is rather… eccentric, to say the least, and doesn't seem very reliable. Or trustworthy. Or respectable. Er, what I'm trying to say is that despite how he looks or acts, he's very capable and after meeting him and talking to him I decided that there couldn't be a better candidate! So you can rest easy… and preferably in a different room than him._

 _Your Father,_

 _King Crescente Sol_

"Huh, so my father really did send you," Morgan stated.

"Yep, I'm legit," Shade beamed.

"Sure," Morgan sighed before rolling the letter back up and placing it on the nearest surface, which was a small table. "So how did my father find you? Are you like some professional bodyguard or something?"

"And here's where I'm going to have to make Ground Rule #2," Shade began, still smiling brightly. "No personal questions about myself. The less you know about me the better."

"And why is that?" Morgan asked, tilting her head in confusion. Was there actually something Shade was hiding?

"Because… the more mystery I surround myself in, the more interested you'll be in me. Guaranteed to work according to this magazine article I read a while back," he replied, sending Morgan a wink as well. She stood there and stared at him for several moments, her expression remaining blank.

"It's late. I'm going to bed," she eventually said before standing up and quickly finding the bedroom. Shade watched as she closed the door and his smile suddenly turned perverted.

"Such a shame that there's only one bed here. Guess I have no choice but to sleep wi-" _CHCK_. Shade froze and stared at the door. "W-Wait. Did you just lock the door?"

He stood up on his hind legs and tried the handle but found that it was, indeed, locked.

"M-Morgan! You, uh, accidentally locked the door on me," He said to the door. All he heard in reply was the rustling noise of Morgan climbing into bed. "Hahaha. Real funny Morgan. But you can unlock it now…"

There was silence. Shade waited for several moments and nothing happened. He sighed and rested his head on the door.

"She must actually be going through a lot right now. She's probably traveling further from home then she's ever gone. She's also going to go marry someone she's probably never met. And she's gotta deal with me on top of all of that. Maybe I should tone it down a bit," he muttered to himself. Then his grin returned. "Or, I could double my efforts! I'm mean, sure, she's about to get married. But we've got about a week of traveling to do and who says she can't enjoy her current non-marital status?"

He left from his spot in front of _his_ bedroom and walked back out to the living room where he walked over to the lone shelf with several books on it. He grabbed one and pulled it off before setting down.

"It's been awhile since I've read from this. I should brush up just in case… Arceus knows where I'd be without this book," Shade said as he flipped open to the beginning pages of _Picking up Women: For Dummies_.

…

Morgan awoke in the bed with just a bit of grogginess. Despite that there were no windows in the bedroom, Morgan knew it was early in the morning. In fact, the sun was going to rise in about a few minutes. Being an Espeon, it was basically hardwired into her brain to be in tune with the sun. She stretched her front legs before stretching her rear ones and hopping out of bed. She glanced around the room, seeing if she could learn something about Shade. It was barren though of any kind of personal touch and the only thing she found was a card on the lone nightstand next to the bed. She picked it up with her telekinesis. It looked like some form of ID, but she didn't know why he would need something like this. She read it over though.

 _Species: Umbreon_

 _Name: Shade_

 _Sex: Male_

 _Age: 18_

Morgan had to pause and double check to make sure she had read that right. Shade was younger than her? And by two years?!

 _Height: 3'2" (.97 m)_

 _Weight: 52.3 lbs. (23.7 kg)_

 _Birthplace: Lumiose City, Kalos_

 _Expiration Date: On Twentieth Birthday (6/15)_

 _ID#: AwXEZz5A_

The only other thing was a small picture of Shade's face. Though Morgan was surprised that he actually looked stoic and lacked any of the idiocy he had shown last night. She set the card back down. Outside of learning his age, it hadn't really been very useful. She sighed and was about to open the door but froze. It was definitely early in the morning and that probably meant that Shade wasn't going to be awake yet. She would have liked to leave for the trip as soon as possible and waking him up seemed like a satisfying thing to do. Put those two together and she had a rather obvious plan of action. She glanced about the room but unfortunately didn't find any phone books… hopefully there was one somewhere in his apartment.

She unlocked the door, opened it and almost jumped back in fright by the Umbreon sitting outside. He was sitting down and had his back to the door but he was looking at her from over his shoulder.

"Wow, do Espeons actually get up at the break of dawn every day? Weirdos," he said, standing up and stretching his body.

"What were you doing?" Morgan asked him. He gave her a confused look.

"Uh… you know what I am right?" He asked her, causing her face to scrunch up in confusion. "I'm your escort and bodyguard. So I was out here guarding your body."

"... You've been out here all night?" She asked.

"Pfft, no. Even I need to sleep," he answered.

"Then, how much did you sleep?" She asked.

"Enough," he replied. Morgan was unsure of how to respond to that, so Shade took the initiative. "Why don't we eat some breakfast before heading out?"

He turned around and Morgan followed him to the front of the motel room. While Shade went into the kitchen, Morgan went to living area that she assumed he used as a dining room as well. As she heard the fridge door open, a sudden thought entered her mind.

"Wait, you can cook?" She asked loud enough for Shade to hear.

"Uh, I live alone. Of course I can," she heard him reply. She was actually moderately surprised by Shade. Him living in a clean space and having the ability to cook where by far the most shocking things she'd learned about him. She waited patiently for several minutes before Shade came over with two plates stacked on his back. He set the plates down on the table and gave her the top one before moving his further down the table. Morgan froze as she looked at her dish.

"Go ahead and eat," Shade said, noticing her hesitation, before ripping into his own food. Morgan stared at her food.

"What is this?" She asked, looking at Shade. He rolled his eyes as he stopped eating.

"Oh come on princess, I know it's not the kind of meal you're five-star chefs-"

"Shade," she interrupted. Shade noticed how icy her stare as. "What. Is. This?"

"Oh, uh, it's just Tauros," he said quickly. Morgan seemed to nod her head as she looked back down at her dish.

"Can I ask you something else Shade?" She asked, her tone was still even more monotone and cold than what he had gotten used to.

"O-Of course Morgan," he replied.

"Why is it bleeding?" She asked.

"Because… meat has blood in it?" He answered unsurely. Morgan looked at him again.

"Shade," was all she said.

"Y-Yes Morgan?" He asked.

"Please explain to me why you just served me a slab of raw… Tauros meat for breakfast," she said, but her tone made it known that it was a demand.

"Oh my gosh, are you a vegetarian? I'm so sorry, I swe-"

"No I'm not a vegetarian!" Morgan yelled, her frustration continuing to rise. While she wasn't a frequent eater of meat, she certainly enjoyed it from time to time.

"Oh… then what's the problem?" Shade asked, causing her frustration to spike.

"Why is this raw?!" She finally yelled, startling Shade.

"Wh-What do you mean?" He replied.

"Why didn't you cook this at all?!" She asked. Shade cocked his head at her.

"Cook it? With what?" He asked. Morgan hesitated.

"I… I don't know," she admitted. She knew next to nothing about cooking. How could she? It's not like she was ever expected to cook anything. But at least any of her meals that had meat in them had actually been cooked! "But isn't there some human thing in the kitchen that you use to cook it?"

"Oh yeah sure," Shade began, his voice an octave higher than normal in a mocking tone. "Let me just go use the human's technology with these paws of mine that noticeably lack opposable thumbs."

Morgan's gem flashed to life as her she picked up her plate with a telekinetic grip, causing Shade's eyes to widen in fear.

"Wait! I'm sorry! Just put the plate back down!" Shade begged. Morgan shot him a look that clearly asked why she should listen to his plea. "Please… getting carpet cleaned is actually really expensive and I don't have that kind of money."

Morgan paused before setting the plate down, much to Shade's relief. She glanced around the room.

"How are you living here? It seems rather… inconvenient," she added, looking back to Shade.

"Oh, I happen to have some friends here and there. Both pokemon and human ones. And I guess living in a human place has been a little uncomfortable… but I like it! I've always wanted to live in a human city. I thought about living in Lumiose City, but that was a little too urban for me. Santalune however is perfect and close to Lumiose," Shade answered.

"Where were you living before?" Morgan asked. Shade frowned and shook his head.

"I'm invoking Ground Rule #2," was all he said before going back to ripping into his meal. Morgan sighed before noticing that Shade was eating something different than what her's was.

"... What are you eating?" She asked. Shade looked up at her, grinning again.

"Oh, just Rufflet," he replied. Morgan had to fight the urge to gag.

"Do you have any food here that isn't just raw meat?" She asked him.

"Hmm… not much. Didn't want to stock up on perishable foods before leaving to go on a trip. I'm pretty sure I have a lot of trail mix though," he said, getting up and walking back to the kitchen.

"What's trail mix?" Morgan called. She then glanced back at her plate and slide it over to Shade's using Psychic.

"It's a human thing. It's basically a mixture of nuts, dried berries and candy sometimes. Oh yeah, I've got a lot. Any specifics?" He called back.

"Do you have anything with Pecha Berries?" She heard Shade gag at her question.

"Pecha Berries? You can eat those things?" He asked, before Morgan heard a sound that vaguely reminded her of rain.

"What's wrong with Pecha Berries?" She asked defensively. Shade came back with a bowl on his back, filled with what Morgan thought were peanuts, almonds, cashews and dried Pecha Berries. She took it from him and began eating it, one piece at a time.

"What's wrong with them?" He repeated, after sitting down. He briefly glanced down at the plate that she had slid over to him. "They're disgustingly sweet. I don't know how anyone can eat them."

"Didn't you order a drink yesterday that had Tamato Berry in it or something?" Morgan countered. Shade hesitated.

"... Fair point," he conceded before going back to his Rufflet.

"If you don't like Pechas so much, then why do you have some?" She inquired. Shade blinked and stared at her.

"Ground Rule #2," he finally said. Morgan scowled before going to try her 'trail mix'.

"So this trip that you're bringing me on, how long is it going to take?" Morgan asked.

"Well, I'd say a week on a one-way trip," he answered between bites.

"Really? I only assumed it would take a few days," she said, frowning.

"Sure, it'd take a few days just making a straight beeline to the Wastelands. But we're going north to Lumiose City first, then west to the Wastelands. Thus, it'll take about a week," Shade explained.

"Why aren't we just taking a straight path there?" She asked.

"Because you're a lot less likely to be assassinated in a public area then in the middle of nowhere," Shade said, causing the cashew that had been on its way to Morgan's mouth to drop onto the floor. "Oh come on, watch th-"

"Assassinated?!" Morgan yelled, causing Shade to wince by the sudden volume increase. "Why would I be assassinated?!"

"Well, you're on your way to unite two kingdoms. Some people don't want the kingdoms united. Ergo, they want you dead," he answered in a much more nonchalant tone.

"Why don't people want the kingdoms to unite?" She asked.

"I dunno. Politics was never my forte. You should meet my brother though, he lives and breathes that stuff," Shade said, chuckling.

"Brother?" She questioned. She was an only child and admittedly sometimes fantasized about having siblings on the rare occasion. Shade flinched, making Morgan shoot a confused look at him, and scowled.

"Ground Rule #2," he muttered before jumping down from the table. He grabbed both plates and disappeared into the kitchen. Morgan went back to eating but found that she had actually almost finished all of it. Trail mix was surprisingly good despite how simple it sounded. Maybe she'd make it her usual snack after she was… married. She lightly groaned at the thought. It wasn't that she didn't want to get married ever. In fact, she wanted two daughters by her 30s named Serene and Fleur who would have a three year age gap between them. But married now? And to someone she's never met before? She didn't know about that.

Her thinking was disrupted by Shade popping back up, wearing his fanny pack and a small garbage bag on his back with the handles tied around his neck.

"Come on princess, we've got to mosey," he said, back to grinning. Morgan followed his as they left his apartment, down the flight of stairs to the ground floor where he dropped off his garbage in a communal dumpster. They stood on the street now as the sun was starting to rise above the taller buildings and wake the city up.

"I hope you're ready to have your life changed," Shade quipped.

Morgan hoped so too.

 **Whoo! Got this all done. It should be noted that I started writing this like early November and it's now… New Year's basically. But, in my defense, I had finals and stuff for, you know, two of the eightish weeks I was working on this. Heh, 'working'. Oh! Sun and Moon also came out! Yeah! That's what I was busy doing! Fun game and had a surprisingly new challenge it. Tried to blind nuzlocke it without the exp share and I made it to the second trial before getting murdered. Good times, good times. Even after deciding to quit the nuzlocke I still had some hard battles. But my final team was Maria the Primarina, Xavier the Makuhita, Nate the Toucannon, Lorainne the Crobat, Zeke the Drifblim and Nebby (I'm unoriginal, sue me) the Lunala. You'll notice that four of my pokemon are weak to electric, so you can just imagine how much fun Sophocles's trial was! Anyway, I need to cut off this author's note. So make sure to favorite/follow if you enjoyed it and review to tell me what you think of my writing/the story!**


	3. Without You

Chapter 3: Without You feat. Sandro Cavazza by Avicii

 **Oh boy, don't you love it when a story you've followed doesn't update for a year and a half. Because I know I for sure as shit don't. So I apologize. I don't even have many excuses outside of just working on my other stories. So I'll be focusing on this story for a bit, getting it at least to chapter 5 before deciding to switch over to something else. Hopefully this chapter makes up for the long wait.**

 **Oh, also, I've a discord open now. It has a thriving two members :} so come join! Right now, it's just like a forum for my stories, but I want to expand it into a community for fanfics in general. Here's the link if you're interested /invite/QhD6V2n I will, of course, be djsoresu there. Hope I get to see some of you!**

Morgan and Shade walked together down the busy streets of Santalune City. Shade was whistling a tune that Morgan was pretty sure she had heard at the club last night. Morgan though, was far more preoccupied with trying to not appear nervous when surrounded by so many humans. She'd spent next to no time with any beforehand and it showed. She was pretty sure the only reason why no one had tried to catch her was because she was with Shade. If it was possible to be too casual with humans, Shade had hit that point. She even saw him wink at a few of the passing females.

"So, Princess," Shade started, drawing Morgan's attention. She disliked being called that, something she had already informed him of. A couple times now, "got any hobbies?"

"Excuse me?" Morgan asked in reply.

"You know, hobbies? Like, what do you do in your free time?" Shade reiterated.

"Why the sudden question?" She asked suspiciously. Shade shrugged before replying.

"I dunno. I mean if we're going to be traveling together, I might as well get to know a bit about you to pass the time."

"Ugh, fine. Well, to answer your question I'd have to say no. Free time wasn't a luxury I had. I spent most of my day in lessons, sitting with my parents in the throne room, being courted by multiple strangers. All that stereotypical princess stuff, practically all day and every day."

"Oh? Lessons sound interesting. What kind of lessons?"

"Stuff from mathematics, to politics, to proper mannerisms-"

"Which haven't been going well obviously," Shade interrupted, earning a tail slap to his side.

"Fine then, what about you? What kind of weird hobbies do you have?" Morgan asked.

"Well one, ow. Two, rude. And three… um… I don't actually get out much. Most of the time I'm just working. Or preparing for my work."

"Really? You don't get out much?"

"Not really, no."

"Well if it isn't Shade!" A new voice exclaimed, startling Morgan. Shade just seemed to give out a sigh of exasperation.

"Oh, Fang. You look terrible, as always," Shade said with a flat look as a scraggly looking Poochyena jumped in front of them.

"You flatter me," he said, giving off a big smile. Morgan noticed that he was missing one of his canines. No, wait. He was missing _both_ of them. The Poochyena then seemed to notice her. "Oh my. Shade, you really outdid yourself with this one. So what's the name of this young lady? Though, I imagine it's hard to remember the name of all the girls you lay with on a weekly basis."

"Fang, do the world a favor and shut up already," Shade answered. Morgan was perplexed a little however.

"Did you just say 'lay with'?" She asked.

"Oh please don't encourage him," Shade said, but was ignored by the two other pokemon.

"Oh you know, hitting a home run," Fang said. Morgan only grew more confused. "No? Shagging? Going downtown? Schtupping? Giving her the horizontal bop? Slobbing on the knob?"

"For the love of Arceus please stop," Shade interrupted, leaving Morgan's question unanswered.

"I still don't know what any of that means," she pouted.

"It means nothing," Shade groaned. "Just the ramblings of an idiot."

"You know Shade, I'm a little surprised. I thought you were into the more freaky ones. She seems rather… tame," Fang said.

"Excuse you?" Morgan scoffed. "You'll have to excuse me if I'm unfamiliar with all of your… street jargon."

"Street jargon?" Shade questioned.

"Sh-Shut up!" She replied. Fang looked between the two of them.

"Hold up. Are you actually… dating each other?" Both eeveelutions stopped to stare down at the Poochyena.

"I wish." "Absolutely not." Both replied at the same time. Fang looked even more confused.

"You guys are a weird couple," he stated.

"We are not a couple!" Morgan exclaimed.

"Well, we are a couple of eeveelutions," Shade corrected. Which earned him another slap to his side.

"Right… so, Shade, just wanted to pop over to say hi and that you can go fuck yourself with a ten foot pole," Fang said, still keeping his chipper tone. Shade sighed.

"You're _still_ angry about that?" He asked, now confusing Morgan once again.

"Yes!" Fang yelled, startling Morgan. "Of course I'm still mad that you slept with my girlfriend!"

That elicited a gasp of surprise from Morgan as she turned to Shade.

"Oh for fuck's sake, it was an accident!"

"Oh right! You just 'accidentally' tripped and fell with your dick into her pussy."

"You know that's not what I mean!" Morgan became painfully aware of all the eyes, both human and pokemon alike, that were looking their way. But the males appeared oblivious. "Dude, just leave it in the past."

"It was two weeks ago!"

"And I've moved on! And clearly she has to if her new boy toy is an indication!"

"You're a terrible pokemon Shade!"

"No shit Fang! Anyone who's ever met me will agree with you!" There was a pause as both seemed to wind down a bit.

"I hope you know Shade, that when you die," Fang began, no longer shouting, "you'll be alone. Unloved. And full of regrets."

The tension between the two as Shade stayed silent was thick enough for a hot knife to cut. Fang turned towards Morgan.

"It was nice meeting you and frankly, you could do a whole lot better than this asshole."

He then pushed past them, well, pushed past Shade and walked off. Shade inhaled deeply before letting it out slowly. A smile found its way onto his face, but Morgan could see the strain in it. He continued walking and Morgan was forced to follow him.

"What… what was that about?" She asked as they walked.

"Why do you care?" Shade asked back, not even turning to look at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, in about a week, you'll be in the Wastelands, married to some Prince Whatever His Name. You'll have a nice cushy life there as royalty. You'll never see Fang again. You'll never see me again. So why do you care what happened between the two of us?" Shade clarified.

"I… uh…" Morgan paused to formulate some kind of response. "I want to know what kind of pokemon I'm going to be travelling with for a week."

"You don't want to know the kind of pokemon I am," Shade replied darkly.

"That's… extremely corny," Morgan stated. Shade frowned before responding.

"I thought it sounded cool," he muttered, though it was loud enough for her to hear.

"And there lies the problem," she said.

"Touché," Shade agreed, causing both of them to chuckle. Though, Morgan suddenly stopped.

"Hey, don't try and distract me with corny lines!" She accused, causing Shade to click his tongue in annoyance. "And did you just click your tongue at me?"

"Fine, you really want to know what happened between Fang and I?"

"I do."

"Ugh. Alright, so Fang and I go a bit back even before I lived here. He was a pretty young guy and I was a respectable role model."

"You could at least pretend that you're telling the truth."

"Hush. Anyway, he kind of annoyed me and I tolerated him. About a week or so after I officially moved here he suddenly introduced this girl to me. A Skitty city girl. They were actually kind of cute together. But I noticed something about her after talking to her."

"What was that?"

"She was a huge slut."

"Wait what?"

"Yep. Huge slut. I'm still not exactly sure why she started dating him but it wasn't going to end well for Fang. I had tried to warn him but turns out it's a little hard to just tell someone that their girlfriend would probably end up cheating on him. So… I showed him."

"So… you slept with her so that they would break up?"

"Yeah. In my own fucked up way of thinking that I was helping. Though, I also just wanted to sleep with her too. So there's that too."

"Huh. So you're not a bad pokemon… you're just bad at being a good pokemon?"

"Believe whatever you want. Now can we talk about something else please?"

"Fine… why don't you tell me how you became a bodyguard?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well how did you decide to that you'd be a bodyguard? It's an odd profession to get into and I wouldn't believe that you have some noble reason like wanting to protect others."

"A little hurtful, but true. Hm, no. I guess it's kinda one of those… careers that finds you."

"And how did it 'find you'?"

"Hm. Doesn't really hurt to tell. It started when I was young. Believe it or not, I was quite the wild and rambunctious kid."

"Wow, I totally can't see that. Like, at all."

"Your sarcasm is noted. Anyway, I had a passion for, well, getting into fights and proving how strong I was."

"Why is that?"

"I don't really know to be honest. I've just never seen it as just fighting though. It's a form of expression too, like, painting or something."

"The art of fighting?" Morgan joked.

"Exactly!" Shade agreed, causing Morgan to deadpan. "The higher the stakes, the more special it is."

"So, what you're saying is, you get off on a good fight?"

"Wow, you just… you just said that. Guess I'm already rubbing off on you. But it's not just about a 'good fight'. I'm talking about a battle where your life is on the line."

"You… you mean a fight to the death?"

"Mmmhm. There's nothing more satisfying than emerging victorious after pitting every ounce of your being into a fight. One where defeat could spell out death."

"H-Have you ever killed someone?"

"Of course not. I'm a bodyguard. It'd be a little contradictory if I was going out and murdering all willy nilly."

"Oh, okay. Wait, so you became a bodyguard just to put yourself in mortal peril?"

"I mean, it's a little more complicated but that sounds about right."

"You're crazy. Or stupid. I can't decide which."

"Why not both?"

"Well how good are you?"

"At what?"

"Battling, or fighting or whatever you want to call it. If you're protecting someone like myself-"

"Careful falling off that Rapidash, it's pretty high."

"Oh shush. As I was saying, you must be one of the best in the business to be assigned to me, right?"

"Well, I'd say I'm probably one of the better battlers of all the mons I know. But I know some who are definitely stronger than me. In fact, I know one who could kill me in a matter of minutes probably."

"What?! Who?!"

"Ow, volume please. His name's Reaper. Actually, that's just a nickname that everyone refers to him as. Don't know his real name."

"Reaper? My lord that sounds even dumber than Shade."

"You know what _Morgan_ , not everyone gets creative parents or the luxury to even pick their own nicknames. And they call him that because he's a legendary assassin. He's so good, that rumor has it that if you see him, that means it's your turn to take a trip to the Distortion World."

"That sounds incredibly cheesy and overdramatic."

"But it's true. He's never failed an assassination before."

"Well what kind of pokemon is he?"

"I dunno."

"What?! Then what if he's targeting me right now?!"

"To be honest, if Reaper showed up to kill you, I'd probably tell you to run as fast and as far away as you could. And to pray to whatever god or gods you believe in. Because you'd need their help after he kills me."

A car horn blared next to them, causing Morgan to jump in the air. Shade laughed as she landed, her forked tail standing straight up and she looked around frantically.

"Don't worry about it. Reaper's not going to come after you," Shade reassured.

"H-How do you know?" Morgan asked.

"He would've killed us already," Shade replied with a smile.

 _Meanwhile…_

A figure jumped a little as ringtone started going off. Some song by Blue Clöyster Cult. He pulled the phone carefully out of his jacket pocket.

"Who is this and how did you get this number? This is him speaking. I get that a lot, but what do you want? An Espeon? What's the price? Pfft, yeah no that's not going to work. Oh? Oh I see. Well, I'll be expecting half of that up front. The other half is when I kill her obviously. Yes, when I do it. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. She got any kind of protection, like a royal escort? An Umbreon, that's it? Yeah I'll get it done when I can, but I'm not starting till you got the money got it? Good, now if you'll excuse me, I need to finish up something," the figure hung up the phone before turning. "Sorry about that, never know when a business opportunity comes calling, am I right?"

The human had no way of responding, considering how his throat was slashed and his eyes appeared to be stuck in frozen terror.

"But right now I gotta do my least favorite part of the job…" he said, looking around. The room and the open hallway that lead of it was littered with the bodies of pokemon and humans alike. The air was pungent with the smell of blood as it seeped into the room's carpet and was splattered onto the walls like a poor paint job. The figure stood in the middle, surprisingly clean of anything.

"Clean up," he muttered as he dialed a different number on his phone. "Yeah, it's me. I need you to make about… 60 bodies disappear okay? And bring bleach. Lots and lots of bleach."

 **So a short chapter, sorry. But it's better than nothing. The point of this chapter was to build up how Shade and Morgan interact as well as a little insight about Shade himself. Lemme know your thoughts about this chapter. Also, I wanna know what you guys think of Reaper. Does he seem like legendary assassin? Any guesses as to his species? I kinda want to break some character stereotypes, but not horribly. So review? Please :P**

 **Also, I've been waiting to make a Blue Clöyster Cult joke since like, ever.**


	4. Say it Ain't So

Chapter 4: Say It Ain't So by Weezer

 **Wow, I'm updating this even though it hasn't been a year? That's… astonishing. I almost don't know what to write. Well, let's just get right into it and see what happens I guess.**

 **My discord also now has a bustling 3 members! Cue the fanfares! But, if you want to join, I** _ **might**_ **just be able to squeeze you in ;P use this link** **/invite/QhD6V2n**

"Shade," Morgan whined, trailing sluggishly behind said Umbreon as they walked along the route, "Can't we just take a small break? My paws hurt."

"Oh yeah sure," he answered, causing Morgan to perk up.

"Really?" She asked, looking around to find a suitable place to-

"NO!" Shade yelled, startling the Espeon and several Fletchlings that had been roosting nearby. "Yesterday, you said you didn't want to be on this, and I quote, 'dirty route any longer then possible or else I'll need a serious spa day once we reach Lumiose City'. Now today you've been asking to stop almost every 30 minutes! Make up your mind!"

They had only been on the road for two days now, almost done with their trek to Lumiose City. Though, Shade had greatly overestimated the physical difference between them. Despite his fairly frail build, he was a great specimen with little fat and very well-toned muscles. His occupation rather demanded it. Morgan on the other hand or paw, was someone who had spent their life immersed in studies of various subjects and had very little interest in exerting herself physically.

"That was then and this is now. My paws hurt!" She continued. Shade huffed before glancing around.

"I think there's a creek this way, come on," he said, guiding her off the trail. After a couple minutes, he found a little shaded clearing on the creek's bank. "Here we are. A good sized clearing, some decent cover from the trees above making it cool, a creek for fresh wa-"

"The grass is pretty tall," Morgan interrupted. Shade looked back to her, noticing she was pawing the grass.

"I'm sorry, what?" He asked.

"The grass… it's pretty tall," she repeated. Shade had to repress his eye from twitching. Was she for real? Of all the asinine things to complain about, and she chooses the grass. GRASS. Not the dirt. The grass! And the length of it! What's the problem with it being too long?! What, was it running too slow?!

"And now I'm thinking about golf!" Shade shouted out loud. It took him a moment to realize Morgan was laughing.

"Th-The look on your face," she said between chuckles. Shade frowned, which just caused Morgan to go into another fit. "Y-You actually thought I was serious!"

"Absolutely hilarious Princess," Shade said flatly.

"Oh come on Shade, take a joke," Morgan replied.

"Let's just rest," Shade said, lying down. Morgan rolled her eyes before finding a nice spot to lay down. Though… this grass was a _little_ too long for her liking. But sacrifices needed to be made.

Once Shade heard Morgan's breathing fall into a rhythmic pattern, he stood up and stretched himself out. He didn't need to rest. If anything, he was itching to move about. He glanced at Morgan. Seriously, it had to be a crime to be that attractive. She didn't even seem to realize how hot she was, which honestly made it more distracting. But he was well trained. He'd deal with it… somehow.

Shade decided to secure the perimeter, which in layman's terms, basically meant he was going to walk around because he was bored. He probably shouldn't leave his charge out of sight and unprotected, but this was a rather 'low level' route. She could probably handle most pokemon that lived in these parts. It's not like a Tyranitar was going to pop out of nowhere. Hopefully.

Shade really loved the Kalos Region. Not that he had been anywhere else, but why would he want to leave such a beautiful region? From the nature to the human's cities, everything seemed to have some artistic design to it. He even thought that the humans and pokemon themselves seemed to be more class than other regions. For example, the pokemon kingdoms that existed within Kalos.

As far as he heard, no other region had kingdoms like Kalos did. Though, despite being called something fancy like a kingdom, they were closer to reserves. They were places completely outside of human control or interference. Areas where pokemon could just be pokemon without worrying about humans. There were four in total. One in the Santalune Forest, one in the Lumiose Wastelands, one in the tundra surrounding Frostern Cavern and one in the cave systems on the coast of Kalos.

And as if that kind of unification wasn't enough, now two of the kingdoms were getting merged through a royal marriage. He heard it was something to do with sharing resources among a few other things.

"Ugh, politics," Shade grumbled. He truly had no interest in such things. Politics involved too much talking and delicacy. He considered himself a simple mon. He spoke his mind and if someone didn't like that, they'd settle it with their fists. Er, paws. Or talons. Or scythes. Or… they fought. They settled it with a fight. Now fighting was interesting. It was dynamic, action-packed, emotional and strategic. Each species had their own ways of fighting, and within each species, an individual had their own unique twists.

Umbreon were infamous for their stamina and bulk. They could withstand a lot and generally used hit and run tactics to chip away at their opponents. Shade had seen, and fought, some that even utilized recovery moves to extend their longevity. And while Shade could appreciate that style of fighting, it wasn't for him. He, essentially, was a brawler. He preferred being in close proximity to his opponents where they could get into a 'slugfest'. He didn't do much planning or strategic thinking to outwit his opponents, instead he almost entirely relied on his natural battle instincts.

"And now I want to fight," Shade said out loud. As if someone would magically pop up and figh-

"I might be able to help," a voice said, startling Shade. He turned to see a Weavile leaning against a tree.

"Holy fuck that worked," Shade whispered under his breath. Though, the fact that this Weavile had sneaked up on him was worrying. How'd a Weavile even get onto this side of the region? Shortly afterwards, a human stumbled through the brush. The Weavile seemed unconcerned with this.

"What the heck Bastian, why'd you run off like that?" The human asked the Weavile. Probably a trainer. The Weavile, Bastien apparently, gestured towards Shade. The trainer locked eyes with the Umbreon and did a double take. "What's an Umbreon doing in these parts? Aw man I gotta catch this, my friends will be so jealous."

Well, at least Shade got his battle. Weavile's were notorious predators so this should present a prob-

"Argh! What the fuck?!" Shade exclaimed as something round and colorful domed him in the head. He gained his bearings enough to see a ball pop open and start sucking him into it. "Oh… that's not good."

In the blink of an eye, Shade disappeared as the great ball fell to the ground.

"Sweet! I got it!" The trainer whooped, throwing his arms in the air victoriously. The ball shook once. And then it exploded back open. "Aww! It appeared to be caught…"

Shade appeared from the dissipating smoke and eyed the duo venomously. The Weavile smirked at that and got into a fighting stance. Shade quickly ran through situations in his head. He needed to close the distance between the two. That was the first priority, because despite being notorious for their claw-to-claw combat, Weaviles also had an arsenal of long range capabilities as well. Second priority, not getting gutted by those claws. If he could do those, he'd win.

The Weavile's claws began glowing, indicating an attack and the opportunity for Shade to accomplish priority one. Using his normal type energy, he burst from the spot he was in and covered the ground between them with a speed that was almost impossible to track. The aptly named move, Quick Attack, was one of Shade's favorite. It was a fairly common normal type technique where the user channeled their energy into one attack at ridiculous speed. It was a very risky move though. It was incredibly taxing on the body when used a multitude of times. One misstep or mistake left the user defenseless for a counterattack. So Shade, being as crafty as he was, learned to target specific moments to use this attack. The best instance, catching your opponent off-guard as they charged their own attack or at the very start of the fight.

For Shade, it was a perfect way to start a fight. Simultaneously getting 'first blood' and surprising your opponent? That was right up Shade's alley. It was like his own version of Sucker Punch. So when the Weavile suddenly clapped their claws together right before Shade made contact and created a shockwave that momentarily disoriented him, he knew this fight wasn't going to go as he planned. The brief moment of disorientation was enough to cause Shade to lose his bearings, so he cancelled his attack as he crashed into the dirt. He rolled up onto all fours though. At least he was closer now.

"Nice Fake Out Bastien!" The trainer said. Fake Out. Shade detested the move with a passion. Especially after seeing the smug look on that Weavile's face! "Now let's continue with some Night Slashes!"

The Weavile's claws were engulfed in a dark and twisted aura. Another Quick Attack here would be predictable and a waste of energy. The Weavile charged at him with two quick slashes, both of which Shade had no problem dodging. Despite the initial blunder, Shade was confident he could pull a win from this battle. The primary advantage he had was that the Weavile wasn't fighting to kill. The Weavile was simply trying to wear him down and injure him enough to get caught easier. Shade on the other paw, had no such restriction. He could fight without holding anything back. But he wasn't going to abuse that advantage. While he certainly enjoyed those kinds of fights the most, he wasn't going to go around provoking death matches unnecessarily.

Shade dodged another slash, putting a fair bit of distance between the two. The Weavile took annoyance to that and lunged to close the distance once again. Shade jumped over the lunge, and used an Assurance to smack the Weavile in the back of the head. As soon as he touched back down on the ground, he launched into a Quick Attack and slammed into the Weavile's back. The Weavile staggered to get back up.

"Bastien! Try using Ice Shard!" His trainer suggested. Shade hesitated. Ice Shard? Which one was that? He was familiar with Ice Beam and Ice Fang, but not an Ice Shard. The Weavile got its claws ready into a fighting stance and began taking deep breaths. Shade braced himself. There was a pause as neither fighter moved. Then, in the middle of exhaling, the Weavile shot out a projectile from his mouth. Shade didn't even have time to duck as it impacted and exploded in his face. "Good, now let's go with Fury Swipes!"

Shade barely had a moment to breathe before he was bombarded by a flurry of slashes. He did the best he could to dodge, but he still received several cuts here and there from the Weavile's deadly weapons. However, the Weavile couldn't keep the attack up forever. And as soon as he slowed down, Shade was able to score a well-placed Assurance into the Weavile's gut, halting his attack. He then used his small reserve of steel energy and channeled it into his tail. A quick spin on his paws and some torqueing of his body saw him score an uppercut Iron Tail, sending the Weavile airborne. But Shade wasn't done yet.

Finishing his spin, he fired off a Shadow Ball at the ascending Weavile. The resulting explosion saw the Weavile crash into a tree. He didn't get back up. Shade frowned. He had hoped that the Weavile would have put up more of a fight. The trainer recalled his pokemon and turned tail faster than Shade could blink.

"Well, I got some blood pumping at least," Shade stated.

"That was quite impressive," a voice said. A voice that despite startling him, he recognized.

"Jeez! What is with pokemon and sneaking up behind me?" Shade asked as he turned to see Morgan sitting next to a tree.

"Sounds like someone needs to be more observant to me," she answered as she walked up to him. She quickly looked over him. "You've got several cuts here and there."

"Nothing but a flesh wound," Shade said. Morgan gave him a confused look.

"Yes… they are wounds on your… flesh, if that's what you want to call them," she responded, causing Shade to go deadpan.

"You need to get out more," was all he said.

"You're the one using unnecessarily dramatic words," Morgan countered.

"Ugh, whatever Princess. Ready to keep moving?" He asked. She nodded, so they found their way to the main route and continued on their journey.

"Also, Shade?" Morgan asked, getting his attention.

"What's up?"

"You _are_ aware that you left your charge completely unguarded in a forest all by herself right?" She asked.

"Awh, was someone scared when they woke up all alone?" Shade asked in a condescending voice.

"No, you ass," she responded, with a tail slap as well, "I simply had to follow the sounds of idiocy."

"Yeah… I'm beginning to think I might be an idiot," Shade said. The way he said it surprised Morgan. She glanced at him and saw that his usual smile was gone, so she decided to not press the issue.

"Where'd you learn to fight?" She asked instead.

"Where? Odd question, but I guess I'd have to say that I'm self-taught for the most part," he answered.

"That's fascinating. I've had to take several battling classes myself," Morgan said. Shade snickered.

"Oh yeah, I could really tell back in Santalune that you can handle yourself if you get into trouble," he said.

"Th-That hardly counts! It was two against one. A-And that had been my first time trying alcohol," Morgan responded, getting slightly flustered.

"Oh? So do you think you could take me on in a fight right now?" Shade inquired. Morgan paused before answering.

"Probably not. I doubt I have the skills to best someone who was able to take out a Weavile while wearing a fanny pack," she said. Shade blinked and looked down.

"Holy shit I forgot to take off my fanny pack," he muttered. He noticed that one of the straps had been slightly cut, likely during when the Weavile had used Fury Swipes. "I can't believe I freakin' did that! Oh I'm so sorry baby."

Morgan watched as the Umbreon consoled his fanny pack in silence. Some things, could not be unseen.

 **I'll call a wrap from there. Hm, well, still fairly short but this was a chapter for me to give some exposition and world building a bit. I just didn't want to cram it down your throats. And we got a battle… kinda. And I'll say that the battles from here on out are probably going to start escalating. Shade's battle here was pretty mellow and slow-paced but that was because it was a battle. When we start getting into fights for survival, oh boy, I'm hoping I can write some epic scenes. Next chapter will be out whenever, but make sure to leave a review on what you thought of this chapter. I get more motivated to write with the more reviews that I get… because I'm kind of a whore like that.**

 **~Djsoresupon3 signing out!**


	5. Epic

Chapter 5: Epic by TheFatRat

 **Welp, it took way longer than I thought to even get started on this so sorry about the probable long wait. Still hope you enjoy this chap all the same.**

Morgan was relieved when the entrance to Lumiose City was in clear view. That relief was quickly killed though by the nagging feeling that had been tugging at her ever since she got up. The source of the feeling was the Umbreon beside her.

Ever since she had gotten up this morning, she noticed a stark contrast with the Umbreon that was charged with protecting her. He hadn't made a single quip since they started traveling. No, he hadn't said a single _word_. He had a blank look from the moment she woke up and still wore it. Even when she complained, he hardly reacted. And when she tried to poke fun of his fanny pack, he simply sent her an annoyed look but took no other actions.

Granted, while Morgan didn't know next to anything about Shade, she had gathered that he was a happy-go-lucky idiot who was always looking to annoy or poke fun of someone. This played out change though was unnerving. While she expected him to break his muteness after an hour or two as some dumb form of prank, they'd been walking for almost up to 6 hours and he hadn't made a single peep.

As they walked through the entrance, Shade gestured for her to stick close. She briefly considered going against that just to see if he'd actually do something. Then the prospect of traversing an unfamiliar city's streets without guidance made her shoot down that idea immediately.

As soon as they fully entered the city, the hustle of the city slammed into them as people, cars and pokemon alike all seemed to be rushing to and fro. Sound assaulted her from every direction and it was far more disorienting than when they had left Santalune. Shade seemed to be hardly affected as he looked at their surroundings. He started off in a direction and Morgan glued herself to his side. They navigated through the sea of legs until Shade came to a big picture of the city itself. He gestured towards themselves before pointing to the bottom of the map, where there was a star along with the words "You are here".

He then traced a path through two different plazas that were marked in blue and red. Then finished with the exit on the far west side. Morgan nodded in confirmation.

"Wait, why don't we just stick on to the outskirt roads and go that way?" She asked after looking at the map for a little longer. She hoped for some kind of verbal answer, but was disappointed when he simply gestured around them. She got the gist of it as all the foot traffic, and normal traffic for that matter seemed to be on the outermost of the city.

Shade started off again with Morgan by his side through the city. After crossing the street, they began walking along the new sidewalk when something caught Morgan's eye. She stopped and had to bite Shade's tail to get him to stop too. Though, he didn't let out any sound or even show that it had bothered him much to her annoyance. She turned to see what had gotten her attention.

It was a set of screens with most of which shared the same feed of a woman on a stage performing with her Zorua. While it started off as a simple dance routine, it gradually evolved into a high-speed choreography as the Zorua combined flashy uses of her moves in combination with her latent illusionary abilities to transform the stage into a canvas.

Morgan was dazzled and couldn't peel her eyes away from the screen until it was over as the woman and her Zorua gave a curtsy and exited to the side of the stage.

"Wasn't that amazing?" She asked Shade. She was met with a deadpan stare. Morgan felt her brow twinge in annoyance. She couldn't take any more of this. "Okay, that is it. What is going on with you?!"

Shade seemed, mildly taken aback by her sudden flare of anger.

"Seriously?! Did I do something wrong? Is there any specific reason why you've decided to give me the silent treatment? Why won't you talk to me?!" She yelled at him, gathering the brief attention of humans and pokemon before they continued on their way. Shade paused and shrugged his shoulders. Morgan blinked in astonishment and had to process for a few seconds before something snapped. "That's it. I'm done. I'm done trying."

She pushed past Shade, despite his nonverbal protests and continued on the way he had marked out.

"If you're not even going to put in the effort to make conversation with me, then I'll just do the same," she continued when Shade caught up with her. She turned her head to look at him. "You know I was beginning to think that 'Hey, maybe he's not as big of an asshole as I thought he was'. Now I know I made the mistake of thinking you possibly could've been a decent pokemon. I hope that after this is all over I never see you again as you continue to live your miserable and lonely life."

Shade avoided eye contact as they kept walking. Morgan sighed, partially in disdain and partially in disgust. She found an archway that had the words 'BLEU PLAZA' etched into the stone. They entered the plaza and Morgan was surprised by the fact that it was entirely desolate. Had it not been for the background noise behind her, she could've mistaken that there was no one else around. After taking several steps, Shade suddenly stuck out his paw and stopped her. She rolled her eyes and tried to keep going but exclaimed in pain when Shade bit her ear and dragged her off to one of the buildings.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" She yelled while pawing at her ear. She could feel the bite marks, but nothing seemed to have punctured her skin. Shade made a shushing gesture, to which Morgan immediately ignored. "No! Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you today?!"

He seemed to ignore her question and was studying the roofs around the plaza. He began taking small and light steps along the face of the building.

"Fucking asshole," Morgan mumbled as she crawled behind him. He reached the edge of the face that opened up to a new street. He gestured for her to wait where she was before peeking around the building. Morgan stuck her tongue at the back of his head, proving some point she didn't quite know.

Morgan then heard two sounds she was rather unfamiliar with. One was a high pitched whistling noise. Not someone whistling, but something moving through the air with a lot of velocity. The second was… much more disturbing. It could be best described as a _squelching_ noise.

Morgan saw Shade's head jerk back as if he had been hit. Crimson flew everywhere as his body followed his head and he crumpled onto the ground. Morgan blinked as information stopped processing momentarily. Then it rebooted again. Shade was on the ground. A viscous red liquid was seeping from his body. His head more specifically. Some of that was on her fur down by her legs. A smell began permeating the air. It was metallic yet there was something foul about it that made her want to puke. Then she finally came to the realization that it was blood. And that Shade was dead.

"Wh-What the f-fuck?" She managed as her breaths became shorter and shorter. This wasn't supposed to happen. She knew the road traveled would be dangerous. But she didn't think anyone actually wanted to stop peace so bad they'd hire assassins. Now her bodyguard was dead. She was alone. Tears began welling up in her eyes.

She was understanding of the concept of course. Been to several funerals herself and all. But she had never witnessed someone actually die before, much less… murdered. Despite having possibly the worst introductions ever and the events that had been going on today, Morgan liked Shade. He was surprisingly funny and easy to talk to. She found that despite being called Princess all the time, her status mattered little to him which she appreciated. He was extraordinarily informal with her. Sometimes too informal, but Morgan had quickly grown used to it.

Though she had wished him dying alone, she hadn't really meant it. She had just been understandably frustrated. Now he was gone. And she was alone and probably next to die.

"Wow, that's a lot of blood," a panting voice said, drawing her attention. What she saw shook her processing ability to a standstill. An Umbreon who was out of breath was looking at Shade's corpse. But that was the issue. The new Umbreon _was_ Shade. She could easily recognize him. And the fanny pack. He met her eyes and winked at her.

"Wh-Wha- b-but how did…" she trailed off, trying to understand what she was seeing.

"Look, Princess, I know you're confused right now and have several questions, but we need to move. Now," the new Shade said. He tried to get her up, but she refused to budge and shook her head vehemently.

"N-No, no, no, th-this isn't right. You… you're dead," she muttered.

"Yes, that thing over there is dead," he said, gesturing to the body. "But I'm not, and neither are you. However, that's going to change if we don't get out of here. They're probably already on their way to confirm a kill and find you. I can get us to one of my employer's safe houses but I need your cooperation. Can you do that for me?" He asked, looking deep into her eyes. Something about that snapped her back. She nodded her head and got up with her legs visibly shaking. "Excellent. Let's bounce Princess."

He led her back out of the plaza and onto South Avenue. She stopped paying attention to where they were going as she tried to wrap her brain around what had just happened. This was Shade. That much she was sure of. So who had been posing as Shade the whole day? Was that why they hadn't spoken? As to not let her in on the swap? But that still left the question of who that was. Why did they help her? Or help Shade for that matter? Were they prepared to face death just to protect her?

"Welp, we made it," Shade said, startling her. They had been on the move for roughly ten minutes and Morgan didn't recognize her surroundings at all. But she looked at the safe house… and immediately didn't feel safe. They were in some back alley apartments that looked even worse than what Shade owned in Santalune City. "Okay, yeah, it's not pretty, but it's a safe and secured location."

Shade entered the apartment, the door not even being locked. What kind of safe house was just left unlocked?!

"Hello?" Shade called into the apartment. After getting no reply, he hummed and ventured further in with Morgan behind him. "Alright… let's think."

Shade jumped up onto the couch and had a pondering look on his face. Morgan glanced around the apartment and was thoroughly disgusted. It looked like someone had been living here for years, but hadn't taken the liberty to clean up at all within that time. Human clothes were flung about everywhere. Plates and stacks of old food littered tables and corners of the room. And there were far too many odd stains everywhere for her liking.

"Here's what we're going to do," Shade began, drawing Morgan's attention. "You're going to stay here and wait."

"... That's it? What are you going to do?" She asked.

"Well someone out there is trying to assassinate you, so I need to go out and stop them," he stated.

"S-So you're just going to leave me here by myself?"

Shade sighed and jumped down from the coach, "Look, I know you're scared right now. I get it. But if we want to get you out of this city safely, I need to go do my job. This is a safe place, I assure you. The guy who owns this is super chill. Though, you'll need some way to show that you're with me."

He rubbed his neck as he looked around. He could write a note. Though, that wasn't the most reliable. His paw scratched against the strap of his fanny pack. He stopped and looked down at it. He unclipped it and held it in his mouth before presenting it to Morgan. She blinked before grabbing it with her telekinesis.

"Alright, I'm trusting you to hold onto this while I go out," he told her. "Also, show this to the guy when he comes back. That way he'll know not to kill you."

"Wait what?!" She asked.

"Yeah so it'd be a good idea to keep that around you the whole time. Also, be a bro and don't look through it please," he pleaded before heading off.

"Wait!" Morgan called, stopping him before he could fully leave. "You better come back, got it? Because if those are the last words you ever say to me, I'm going to be _so_ mad."

Shade simply chuckled in response as he left. Morgan closed the door and turned towards the interior of the apartment once more. If she was going to stay here, it needed to be clean. Even if she needed to do the cleaning herself. She just… didn't know where to start.

"'Be a bro' he says," she mumbled as she began picking up old food and tried to find a garbage can or bag. "Idiot."

 **(Meanwhile)**

"I am such an idiot," Shade grumbled as he headed back towards the plaza. He really hadn't expected them to try anything in the middle of the city. Much less in broad daylight. That had been far too close for his liking.

He reached the plaza and wasn't surprised by the lack of a body or a mess. In fact, there were other people walking through and some hanging around at the cafes. But Shade could vividly depict the scene in his mind.

"Let's see, the body had been around here, with blood splattering around there," he mumbled to himself as he reimagined it. "Which means the bullet came from that direction."

The information didn't help much since across the street that the plaza opened up to was lined with buildings, all with great vantage points if you could access the roofs. But he could piece together other things. Like the fact that the assassin had used a gun. Guns were extraordinarily rare. Not only in this age, but also in this region itself. Most guns were in the possession of notorious gangs that could afford them, or high end mercenaries and assassins who got paid enough to maintain them.

The fact that someone was willing to hire such an expensive assassin just to take out Morgan had also been outside his expectations. He sighed in resignation as he counted his options. The assassin believed that they took out his target's bodyguard, leaving her alone and defenseless. While they could hunt her down now, exposing themselves in the public for too long would just get them caught later. They'd retreat to their hideout and wait till tomorrow. Though, to guarantee that she didn't escape, they would need some way of monitoring the exits.

Shade hummed to himself. He knew where to go. The problem was that it was on the other side of the city and the sun was starting to go down. He'd need to travel fast.

 **xxxXXXxxx**

Shade found himself in front of a row of houses. This was definitely the place. The sun had already set and the streets were practically vacant. Shade just needed a way in. Obviously there was no way the assassin would leave a door or window unlocked. But there had to be some way he could get in there, even if it would alarm the assassin. It was just how well Shade could act afterwards that would determine how easy it'd be. Shade noticed movement to his right and looked down the street. An Arcanine was approaching him.

Shade was briefly worried it was a police patrol dog, but Shade could quickly tell from the way it carried itself, that it was not. It was big and strong though, probably male. An idea struck his head. Not necessarily a good idea. But an idea that would get him into the house. Probably.

"Excuse me!" Shade called once the Arcanine could see him. He had his rings almost at full brightness to make it easier. The Arcanine padded up to him and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Which was understandable.

"What is it?" He, definitely male, questioned.

"I need a favor. An odd one," Shade answered.

"Oh do you? Well let's hear it," the Arcanine said, but still sounded very on guard.

"I need you to throw me through that window on the house," he said. The Arcanine blinked at him. "I know it's suspicious but that's my owne-"

"I'll do it," the Arcanine agreed, surprising Shade. That was… easy.

"Oh, really? Thanks a lot!" He said.

"Oh I should be thanking you," the Arcanine replied. Shade froze. "After all, you slept with my girlfriend a couple years ago. Though, I guess I should say ex-girlfriend."

"Ah," was all Shade said as he looked at the large Arcanine. He quickly racked his brain. "Um… the Ninetales. Her name was Nichole, right?"

The Arcanine swiftly bit down on the back of Shade's neck. Hard enough to hurt, but not hard enough to cripple. Though Shade was sure that he easily could have. With a twist of his body and neck, the Arcanine launched Shade spiraling through the air. Shade had little time to gather himself before he crashed through a window and hit wood flooring. Shade had to give credit to the Arcanine, he had good aim. He heard movement from upstairs.

"Her name was Rebecca you asshole!" The Arcanine yelled from outside. Shade grunted in pain.

"I really need to learn how to keep my dick in my pa-" he looked down. "Stupid human expressions."

Instead of getting up or hiding, he laid still and dimmed his rings to only shine faintly. He heard the assassin approach and began weakly getting up.

"What the hell? I thought the pokemon in the neighborhood were docile," the assassin said. Male. The lights flipped on and Shade got a brief look at him. Late 30s probably. About 5'10". Maybe around 190 pounds. He had a handgun in his right hand with a silencer attached, and it was lowered down to his waist.

"Look little guy, I don't know what's going on, but you can't be in he-" A Shadow Ball to the face interrupted him. He exclaimed in pain and used his left hand to clutch his face and his right to bring the gun up. He fired a shot but Shade had already used Quick Attack to change locations. While he certainly couldn't outrun a bullet, he could move faster than most humans could aim. He then used another Quick Attack to cover the distance between them. He locked his teeth right below the assassin's right wrist and bit as hard as he could. The coppery taste of blood filled his mouth and he heard something snap under the force of his jaws.

The human dropped the gun and hissed in pain before slamming Shade down onto the ground. Shade released his grip and rolled away before firing a Shadow Ball at the discarded gun, knocking it away and damaging it. The assassin dropped his hand from his face, revealing scuff marks and his left eye was kept closed. But he could see blood trickling from it. That was one of the biggest differences between humans and pokemon. While they had their intelligence and ingenuity, they were also just so… frail.

"Fuckin' little shit," the assassin said before using his good hand to grab a knife from behind his back. Shade grinned in anticipation. Though, the assassin paused for a moment. "Wait a sec… I recognize you. I thought you were dead!"

Instead of offering a reply, Shade launched into a Quick Attack. The assassin took a slash with the knife but Shade easily dodged it. He targeted low this time with an Assurance to the human's right knee, throwing him off balance. He tried to stab Shade, but Shade saw an opening and pounced on it. Allowing the knife to graze his side, he was able to jump up to the human's head. He latched his teeth around their neck. He had won. Not only did he bite down as hard as he could, but he pushed away as well with all his might. He ripped out a nice chunk of throat as he jumped back. He spit it out as the human collapsed onto the ground. Gurgling and choking on his own blood. Shade stayed to watch as the assassin's twitching and spasms died out within a minute. Shade sighed in relief and spat once more.

"Gonna be tasting that all day tomorrow," he said as he jumped out the window. The Arcanine was gone, which was good. As long as he was careful and strayed from major walkways it was unlikely anyone would see him, or the blood that was covered around his mouth and face. He spat again on the grass. "So gross."

 **xxxXXXxxx**

"Shade! What the hell is going on?!" Shade jumped as two voices yelled at him as soon as he opened the door to the safe house.

"Wha?" Was all he got out before Morgan and a human bombarded him with questions. He blinked several times before turning to Morgan. "Princess. Princess. I need you to listen. Morgan!"

She stopped and focused on him.

"I understand your questions and concerns, but I'm currently covered in someone else's blood right now," he told her. After she seemed to realize that, she recoiled away from him. "Yeah. And it dried up on the way here and it makes me feel like, super dirty. So I'm going to go shower, then after that, we'll sit down and talk. Promise."

"O-Okay," she said, still looking down at his blood-crusted fur. Shade nodded before looking at the human male, who had gone quiet to study their interaction.

"I'll go get the shower started," he said before walking off to the bathroom.

"Thanks David!" Shade called, even though he knew the human didn't understand what he had said exactly. But he had learned to pick up some bits and pieces.

"You owe me a fuckin' explanation though!" He yelled from the bathroom before the musical sound of the shower started. Shade was going to enjoy this, thoroughly. He briefly wondered if soap would help getting the taste of blood out of his mouth, but then remembered the first time he had mistaken it for food. He shivered. It wasn't worth it.

After stepping out and drying himself, he went back to the living room, only to find David sitting on the couch and watching T.V. by himself.

"I let her use the bed. She's in there. She's looked really shaky all night," he said. Shade nodded in thanks and turned to leave. "Don't forget you owe me!"

Shade acknowledged him with a wave before entering the bedroom. Morgan was laying on the bed, with a distant look in her eyes, until she realized Shade had entered. He jumped onto the bed with her but laid across from her.

"Alright, Shade's Q&A is open for business," he told her with a smile.

"What's a queue and ay business?" She asked. Shade blinked.

"N-Never mind. Just, ask any questions you want now. I'll answer to the best of my ability," he said, answering her anyway.

"Hm, where to begin?" She mumbled. Shade was half tempted to give her answer, but decided that she probably was fed up with him as it was. "I know, WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"That's fair," Shade said, now with a constant ringing in his ear. "But I can't really give an answer to that."

"Fine. Whose… whose blood were you covered in when you came back?" She asked hesitantly.

"The assassin who had tried to kill you," he answered.

"You mean the one that killed… 'you'?" She followed up with. Shade nodded his head. Now, is probably where she'd ask about that. "So you... killed him?"

"Oh, uh, yeah," Shade said, surprised that was what she asked.

"I thought you didn't kill?" Morgan asked, staring deeply into his eyes. Shade paused. He quickly racked his brain. Fuck, he had said that. Why did he say that?! Motherfu- "Shade. Is this the first time you've killed?"

Shade quickly assessed the pros and cons of lying to her again. It was a tough choice.

"... N-No," he admitted.

"So, you lied to me back in Santalune," Shade knew it wasn't a question. All he could do was nod in confirmation. "Shade, I'm not mad that you killed someone. Shocked maybe, but not mad. Especially since you did it for my own safety. But, there needs to be some element of trust between us. I want to trust that you can protect me, but you make it hard if you lie to me. I'm fine, if only a bit annoyed, if you withhold information. But no lying, got it?"

"Understood," Shade said, genuinely surprised.

"Good, now onto my next question. Who is that guy out there?"

"Oh, David? He's manager of the safe house. Ensures that it's open any time for people who need it from my employers."

"I thought my dad was your employer."

"Well, okay yeah, he is technically. I mean, the people who handle my contracts. If people are in need of the service we provide, they contact my employers. Then they go through the list of all available employees and choose the candidate that they believe to be the best fit for the job. Of course, the client is able to have the final say."

"So you and David are like, coworkers?"

"Basically. Even though I do a more active job and make more money for our employers, his job is probably equally important."

"Alright, I have one last question for the night. Who was it that got sh-shot?"

"Hm? I don't follow."

"The Umbreon that looked like you! Who was that?"

"Oh… I see."

Shade stopped to think for a moment. He had an unsettling seriousness to his eyes as he stared at Morgan.

"Alright, you wanted honesty? I'll give you the honest answer. But you have to promise me that under any circumstances, you will not share the info that I'm about to give you. To no one, for the rest of your life. If you do, I cannot guarantee your well-being. But, if you want to remain ignorant, you have that option to."

"N-No, I promise. I won't tell another soul."

"Alright… I'm… I'm not a normal Umbreon."

"Wh-What does that mean?"

"I have a special power. I've had it since birth. I can manipulate time to a certain degree."

"WHAT?!"

"Shh! Not even my coworkers know about it alright? I have the ability to change the flow of time. I can set a point in time where if something goes wrong, I can revert back to that point. It leaves an empty husk of myself to guarantee the event will still happen, but I can manipulate it from the shadows. Make a deviation in the timeline for my favor. I'm… kind of invincible from a certain standpoint."

"Wha? That's… that's…"

"I know. It's a lot to take in. I'll leave you to process, I need to go talk to David."

He got up and jumped off the bed.

"W-Wait!" Morgan said. Shade stopped to look at her. "You can't… you can't be serious."

"Look, I know it's hard to believe. And that's because it was a joke."

"Wait, wha-"

"I just used Substitute and kept it up the whole time."

And with that, Shade exited the bedroom, despite the protests from Morgan.

"Fuckin' got 'em," he chuckled as he went to see David who was still watching T.V.

"You're done?" He asked once he noticed Shade. Shade nodded his head, then was mildly annoyed when he pulled out a gun and aimed it at him. But he had expected it. "Good, now you can answer my questions."

Shade sat down just to show that he was complying.

"Do you know how worried the organization has been? To just have one of their top employees disappear for several months?" He said. Shade rolled his eyes. They weren't worried about his wellbeing. Just if he had given up information about them or their employees. "Look, they know that you failed your last mission. Did you try to run because of that?"

Shade shook his head no.

"So something happened?"

A nod.

"Were you captured?"

Another nod.

"Arceus dammit. Did you give up any information?"

A shake.

"I hope not Shade. But you know I'm going to have to report all this to the organization. And if any of their information gets leaked, you'll be suspect #1. And then, well, I think you'll know what will happen."

Shade nodded in understanding.

"So, what's with the girl? So help me, if you brought another one night fling here-"

Shade shook his head.

"Oh, so what's the story?"

Shade hummed as he thought how to answer.

"Complicated?"

Shade nodded his head vigorously. David sighed before putting his gun down.

"When is it not complicated with you? I expect you guys to be gone by tomorrow."

Shade understood and went back to the bedroom. He opened the door and… wait.

"Uh, Morgan? I think I accidentally locked the door. Could you ope-"

"No! Fuck you asshole!" Morgan yelled from inside.

"Can I at least get my fanny pa-"

"No!"

"Oh yeah no sure, get angry after a joke and ignore how I just totally risked my life to protect yours," Shade mumbled under his breath.

"I can hear you!"

"You were supposed to!" He yelled back at her, before mumbling even quieter. "Freaking sonar ears."

"I heard that!" Shade scoffed and trudged back to the living room where David sat, looking very amused.

"You having problems?" He asked with a grin on his face. Shade sighed and flopped onto the floor, causing David to chuckle.

 **Well, that was actually fun to write, and hopefully fun to read. Lots of… fake twists and turns ;P. If you have any questions or things to say, theories, leave a review. I'd appreciate it greatly! Who knows… maybe Shade wasn't joking about his power. Nah that'd be stupid. OR WOULD IT?! Okay, yeah it would. Buuuuut, you never know. Anyway, please leave a review and let me know your thoughts.**

 **~Djsoresupon3**


End file.
